Text Assist
Improve grammar, rewrite for clarity, summarize, generate review questions, and draft email or work-chat replies (Slack, Microsoft Teams, and similar)—using GitHub Copilot language models in VS Code when available, or an OpenAI-compatible API as a fallback (recommended in Cursor, where built-in chat models are not exposed to extensions).
Features
- Intents: Improve, Rewrite, Summary, Questions, Email reply, Slack / Teams reply
- Sidebar: Streamed output, tone control for replies, copy / insert / diff compare, recent history
- Commands: Run on selection, whole document (empty selection), or clipboard
- Tone (email & chat): Balanced professional, Formal, Friendly, Brief
Requirements
| Environment |
What you need |
| VS Code + Copilot Chat |
Copilot LM access after normal consent; optional API key fallback |
| Cursor (and similar) |
Usually no vscode.lm models—set Text Assist: Set OpenAI API key (fallback) and configure textAssist.openAiBaseUrl / textAssist.openAiModel if you use OpenRouter or another compatible API |
API keys are stored in the editor’s secret storage, not in your project files.
Getting started
- Install Text Assist from the Marketplace.
- Open the Text Assist view from the activity bar (pencil-style icon) or run Text Assist: Open sidebar (
Ctrl+Alt+G / Cmd+Alt+G).
- Choose an intent, paste text, and click Run.
- For global commands: Text Assist: Run on selection or document (
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+G / Cmd+Shift+Alt+G when the editor is focused).
Commands
| Command |
Description |
| Text Assist: Open sidebar |
Open the webview sidebar |
| Text Assist: Run on selection or document |
Uses default intent (or quick pick if enabled) |
| Text Assist: Run on clipboard (copy result) |
Reads clipboard, writes result to clipboard after confirm |
| Text Assist: Run on clipboard and insert |
Inserts result at cursor / replaces selection |
| Text Assist: Email reply … |
Same flows, fixed to Email reply intent |
| Text Assist: Slack / Teams reply … |
Same flows, fixed to work chat intent |
| Text Assist: Set / Clear OpenAI API key |
Configure fallback API |
Settings (textAssist.*)
Key settings: defaultIntent, promptForIntent, emailTone, previewDiff, useOpenAiFallback, openAiBaseUrl, openAiModel, Copilot vendor/family, chunking and history limits. See the extension’s Settings UI for full descriptions.
Privacy & data
The extension sends the text you select or paste to the configured model provider (Copilot LM and/or your OpenAI-compatible endpoint). It does not send your files automatically beyond what you run. Review your provider’s privacy policy.
Contributing & support
Update the repository, bugs, and homepage fields in package.json to match your real Git host, then link issues and discussions there.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
